Babies

• Restlessness during the day and sleeplessness at night
• Increased dribbling
• Rise in temperature
• Red and swollen gums which feel hard and pointed when pressed
• Rubbing gums together in a grinding motion
• Being fussy or choosy with food
• Placing objects or fingers in mouth

Giving your baby something cool to bite on can relieve the pressure and ease the pain. You could try the following:

• Rub a finger over your baby’s sore gums to numb the pain temporarily
• Give your baby a teething ring. Solid silicone-based teething rings are recommended over liquid-filled products, which could leak and can’t be sterilised. You could try putting the teething ring in the fridge for a while before giving it to your baby
• Let your baby chew on a soft face washer

Start as soon as the first tooth appears. Wipe the front and back of each tooth twice a day (or after each feed), using a finger wrapped in a clean damp face washer or gauze.

• Introduce a soft children’s toothbrush at 12 months (earlier if tolerated by the infant)
• Only use water to brush your infant’s teeth in the morning and before bed, until 18 months of age
• Use a smear of fluoride toothpaste from 18 months to 6 years of age
• Encourage your child to spit out the toothpaste after brushing, do not rinse

Orthodontic dummies are flatter than traditional cherry-shaped dummies. They’re shaped to encourage your baby to suck in the same way they do whilst breastfeeding.

• Do not put jam, honey, condensed milk or other sweet substances (eg. glycerine) on your baby’s dummy as this can cause serious tooth decay.
• Sucking your child’s dummy before giving it to your child can increase the risk of tooth decay by transferring bacteria from your mouth to your baby’s.
• Do not allow your baby to use dummies shared with other children or picked up off the floor.
• Dummies should be discarded when child is 12 months old.

Overuse or incorrect use (e.g. beyond school age) of a dummy may lead to mouth and dental problems such as:

• Incorrect positioning of teeth – teeth may be pushed forward so that the bottom and top teeth at the front don’t meet properly.
• Mouth breathing – your child may tend to breathe through their mouth rather than their nose. This is often linked to long-term dribbling.
• Speech and language problems – your child may not use the full range of tongue movements that are necessary for making all the speech sounds and may have fewer opportunities to use sounds to communicate.